


By Chance

by ChryseisYumi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining Levi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-07
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4056259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChryseisYumi/pseuds/ChryseisYumi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“You okay?” Isabel asked with a raised eyebrow while wrapping her scarf around her neck, eyeing him with curiosity. Levi quickly nodded, adjusting his coat and moving in the direction of the restaurant they frequented, resisting the urge to place his hand on his wildly beating heart.</p>
<p>He had a goddamn crush.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Pining

Levi frowned with impatience, fumbling with the strap of his schoolbag as he waited for Isabel to finish with her lunch. They were in the all-you-can-eat cafeteria close to their school. The restaurant was full of chattering college students, all enjoying their meals and catching up with friends, classmates, or class material. Besides the few people looking ready to give up on everything (Levi could understand them completely – college is _hard_ ), everyone was at ease, including his friend, who was taking her time, eating her hamburger painstakingly slowly despite knowing they were both going to be late for class if she dawdled for much longer.

_“Isabel,”_ he sighed out with a twitch of his eyebrow.

“Yes?” Isabel hummed in response as she took a sip of her coke. He just stared at her.

Seeing his frown, she rolled her eyes at him and stuffed the last of her food into her mouth and, ignoring Levi’s grimace of distaste, picked up her tray, putting it away to be cleaned. He watched her return to the table and held out her book bag to her, swaying it side to side in annoyance when she took her time putting on her jacket.

“You worry too much,” she said with a grin while grabbing her bag from his hands. Levi only turned around on his heel in response and walked toward the exit of the restaurant. She laughed and jogged after him to catch up, falling into his stride as they rushed to their lecture.

“We have Woerman next and I really don’t feel like pissing him off again. You know full well how much of a dick he is,” he grunted out as he avoided a group of students walking his way. Isabel hummed beside him which prompted an eye-roll from Levi in return.

“You’re impossible.”

“You love me really.”

They strode across the small garden in front of the main entrance of their college and finally reached the doors. Levi pulled at it with full strength, as the doors were extremely heavy, yet he hadn’t accounted for another person to be _pushing_ with just as much force on the other side. They both looked at each other in panic, barely avoiding crashing into one another as they stumbled to regain balance. The young man on the other side grabbed Levi’s shoulder to regain his footing, a small “Woah”, escaping him.

“Oh man, I’m so sorry dude,” he said with a sheepish smile once they were both steady, releasing Levi’s shoulder, “You alright?”

Levi stared at him and barely managed a nod and an apology in return before the young man rushed off, seemingly satisfied with the response or just not giving a damn either way. Levi watched his back with eyes glazed over. The man was obviously in a hurry, judging by the way he jogged through the crowd, barely avoiding the people.

“Dude, you alright?” Isabel said, waving in front of his face.

“Huh?”

“C’mon we’re going to be really late if we don’t get a move on,” she continued with a poke to his chest, all of a sudden seemingly switching her priorities with him. Levi snapped out of it.

“Shit, yeah, let’s go,” he said, taking a final glance over his shoulder before bolting in the direction of the class.

Together they ran to the lecture room, reaching it just before the professor did. They found empty seats and pulled out their notes, listening to Woerman as he started his droning on about psychological development of children yet again. Isabel instantly started taking her notes, interest all over her face, but for some reason Levi could not concentrate on the lecture for the life of him. All he could think of as his notes turned to doodles were the striking eyes and smile of the man he nearly crashed into.

The incident did not leave his mind even later on that night when he tried, once more, to sketch out the outlines of his fan-comics, and soon he gave up on the Kingsman panels in favour of drawing what he could remember of the stranger’s face. He quickly became infatuated by the quirk of those lips and the brightness of those eyes in his memory. His coloured pencils rushed over the paper as an image slowly came into existence; blue-green sea waves caught in irises, a cupid’s bow shaping a graceful mouth, the messy hair complimenting the features. It astounded Levi just how much he remembered of that face.

After he was done, he lay down on the bed and stared at the ceiling, sighing contently as he drifted into sleep. A huge surge of gratitude pulsed through his mind, and it was directed towards the stranger; it was him that caused his block to lift after all.

 

* * *

 

Weeks and many finished art projects later, Levi sighed with exhaustion as he handed in the last of his assignments for his courses. The professor eyed him with slight concern as they took in his rough appearance, before turning around and leaving with a shake of their head.

“Fucking hell,” Levi grumbled once they were out of earshot, rubbing at his face and adjusting his book bag as he made his way outside the building.

It had been a tough weekend for him. While his art had flourished for days upon days after the incident with Ocean-eyes (as he called him in his mind), his assignments had gathered, forgotten. He had finally remembered them when the deadlines had lurked dangerously near, and rushed to get them done on time, just barely making it.

It had taken Levi off guard just how immersed he had gotten into his art again. It had been like a high of sorts, a high of the best kind – and he had Ocean-eyes to thank for that.

Something about him, something he hadn’t been able to put a finger on until later on, had inspired him so deeply, that he just _had_ to let it out, because it had felt like he could have burst with all of the ideas fluttering inside his mind. He had continued his fan-comics and many other sketches he had been working on, creating new pieces as well, even dabbling with painting again after years of putting it off. That meeting had somehow triggered his artistic side to once again flourish, and it had grown in spades. He had felt free and happy again, but most of all, he had felt grateful. His ability to create art had always meant the world to him, and the man had brought it out of him.

For a while he had almost desperately wanted to find the man so he could thank him, yet he hadn’t seen him around since the incident and it had already been weeks. If he hadn’t known better he would’ve just assumed it was all a figment of his imagination, but no, Isabel had also been there and she remembered. He had even asked her at one point, just to make sure. Eventually though, since he couldn’t find him, he had given up on the thought and continued on.

“Jean, you _dickhead_ ,” someone yelled from somewhere close. Levi grumbled in annoyance at the interruption to his thoughts and turned around. He then blinked. Was that –?

“I swear to god, horse-face, I’m going to get you right in the mug!”

“Don’t you have to aim good to do that dickwad?”

“You asshole –“

It was Ocean-eyes, running across campus with his friends, cursing and laughing with them as he threw snowballs at one of them, with the other returning the favour. He looked absolutely stunning, even with his cheeks and hands pink from the cold and his coat soaked at the front from the battle he was having with his friend.

Levi stared. His heart fluttered. And then the realisation came, hitting him square in the face like the snowball that had hit the Jean fellow just then. Levi couldn’t even feel amused at that though.

He had somehow, unknowingly, developed a fucking _crush_ on someone he _didn’t even know_.

He stood there, shocked, face bright red.

“Ready to go?” Farlan said from beside him all of a sudden and Levi startled, surprised with the appearance of both him _and_ Isabel by his side. He hadn’t even heard the noisy door open.

“You okay?” Isabel asked with a raised eyebrow while wrapping her scarf around her neck, eyeing him with curiosity. Levi quickly nodded, adjusting his coat and moving in the direction of the restaurant they frequented, resisting the urge to place his hand on his wildly beating heart. Oddly enough, his friends did not comment on his weird behaviour and instead started up a conversation about food, lectures, and the approaching holidays. Levi let them do most of the talking while he processed his realisation.

He had a goddamn _crush_.

 

* * *

 

Whenever he had seen Ocean-eyes after that, he had always ended up getting flustered and nervous, even if they never actually did more than maybe bump shoulders if even that. Sometimes he had just seen him from across campus, but it brought out those giddy reactions anyway. He didn’t know what to do with himself.

 

* * *

 

Levi was in the library searching for a book on sewing. He was browsing the aisles of books, searching for anything that could be of use to him, when he stumbled upon him. Ocean-eyes was there, along with a blond guy he vaguely remembered seeing around him before, sitting at a table, both of them obviously studying. His heart automatically sped up and he tried to move away to avoid the temptation of staring, slightly frustrated with himself for reacting that way. He halted in his steps though, when his crush spoke, unable to help himself from listening to his voice. Levi frowned at himself. He was so damn ridiculous.

“Dude, I seriously don’t get why Plato didn’t just tell these guys everything upfront instead of dragging things along for all of us,” Ocean-eyes groaned, stretching his back tiredly. Levi quickly glanced away, swallowing heavily.

“They needed to realize these things for themselves, Eren, that’s the _entire point_ of the dialogues he had with everyone,” the blond guy started explaining and Levi stopped listening. He was too focused on the fact that he finally had a name to go with the face.

Eren. It was a lovely name, he thought.

Levi then realised he probably lurked around there for too long and quickly moved away, once again focusing on finding a useful book, or well, trying to. He eventually found what he was searching for, and left the library, muttering to himself all the way to the dorms, irritated with the feelings he was experiencing.

“This is ridiculous,” he groaned to himself for the millionth time that month, rubbing at his face to get himself together before he faced his friends at Farlan’s, not willing to give them any hint as to what is going on with him. They would just tease him mercilessly after all.

 

* * *

 

It was a nice spring day. Levi and his friends were outside on one of the patches of grass in front of the university, sitting and laying down in various poses as they relaxed. The day was a particularly warm one and they all took advantage of the situation, bringing blankets with them and spreading them out on the slightly damp grass. They weren’t the only ones with that idea either – several other students could be seen enjoying the warm rays of sunlight throughout the campus grounds, Eren and his friends being among them.

“You know,” Erwin hummed next to Levi’s knee, his body spread across the ground as he sunbathed, “You could just go talk to him.” He turned over and stretched like a cat, catching Levi’s eyes as they snapped from Eren toward him. Levi glared at Erwin and looked away, only to see four other pairs of eyes staring at him intently. He focused on a random spot in the distance to avoid their gazes and tried to feigned ignorance.

“What are you on about?”

“Oh you know exactly what he’s on about,” Isabel said with an eye-roll, effectively including herself in the conversation with a bite into her apple.

Erwin nodded lazily and continued, “You’ve been making heart eyes at that cute guy over there for ages. Why don’t you just go and say hello? It won’t hurt you, you know.”

It seemed that, in the end, he wasn’t very successful from hiding this from his friends. As always. Levi dropped his pretence and rubbed at his face, trying to control the flush that was steadily making its way across his face. Was he really that obvious?

“That’s easier said than done,” He eventually grumbled out, looking in the direction of Eren and watching as the youth laughed at something one of his friends had said, face bright.

Hanji leaned toward Erwin and muttered a quiet “Is that cute or what?” with a giggle, earning a smirk from Erwin and a glare from Levi.

“Dude, you literally just stand up and walk up to him, it’s not rocket science,” Isabel said, getting up to toss the apple’s core into the trash can.

“Are you stupid? I can’t just do that, that would be extremely weird,” he replied with annoyance, a frown settling on his face as he looked at all of them, wondering how the fuck he even got into that situation in the first place.

“It’s much less weird than you staring at him all the time,” Erwin retorted, placing a hand over his eyes to block out the sun as he looked at him. Isabel and Hanji just nodded in agreement while Farlan and Mike didn’t seem to want a part of the conversation. For now anyway.

“Will you please just drop it?” Levi sighed out while reaching for his book bag, pulling a sketch book out of it and therefore signalling the end of the conversation. Isabel looked like she was going to say something, but Farlan just placed a hand on her knee and muttered a soft “Leave it.” She grumbled but stayed quiet, focusing on the rest of her lunch instead.

The conversation eventually resumed when Mike pointed out a change in his schedule, and soon they were bemoaning anything and everything regarding the college. Levi soon relaxed again, emerging from his sketches to curse at the workload they had been given. The topic of his pining was put aside.

 

* * *

 

Weeks passed once more and it got even warmer. With warmer weather came many more outside activities, such as sports, the occasional outside class, and festivals. That also meant many fliers being handed out by college students who were desperate for some cash. Levi felt sorry for those students because the job was not an easy one, especially since no one really likes being handed flier after flier. You had to have determination and people skills for that, and that seemed to be something most of them lacked.

So he tried to be as nice as he could be asked to be, and helped out by accepting those damn pieces of shiny paper. Yet even he had limits, and after the eleventh flier popped up in front of his face that morning, he felt like he had done enough good deeds for the day and firmly ignored any other kid trying to give him one. He skilfully avoided them while surfing through the crowd, Hanji and Mike trailing behind him as they walked to the University.

A hand suddenly shot out in front of him, flier firmly in hand as it blocked his way. The person holding it stepped in his line of vision just as Levi sighed with annoyance, but as soon as he saw who it was he stopped whatever rude thing he had been going to say and stared. Eren’s hopeful eyes shone as he smiled at him.

“Hey there. There’s going to be a festival held at the University campus next week,” he started as he held out the flier he had in his hand, “The entry fee’s only two dollars and there’s gonna be a band. You should come check it out, I can guarantee both are good.” Eren winked at him.

Levi stared at the flier, grasped it and proceeded to try and form words while staring into those enthralling eyes. A knot formed in his throat and he just nodded in the end, pulling the flier from the other’s hands. Eren grinned at him widely and clasped his shoulder.

“Thanks man, I’ll see you there then?”

Another nod from him and Eren turned away, walking on and sinking his metaphorical promoter claws into another person. Levi watched him go and sighed, tensing soon after when Eren took a peek over his shoulder at him just before he got lost in the crowd.

“You, my friend, are seriously so lame,” Hanji moaned from behind him, making him remember that people he knew were with him. His eye twitched.

“Shut up,” he said with a tremor in his voice and a glare at them over his shoulder. Hanji snickered and Mike smirked. Levi grumbled and quickly rushed to the café they were going towards, taking a seat at one of the outside tables. Hanji slid into the seat next to him while Mike sat opposite them.

“No, really Levi, that was the perfect opportunity to try and get a conversation going and you completely blew it,” they said with a sigh, scratching at their head as they surveyed the drink menu on their table. Mike nodded in agreement with them.

“Would you stop it?” Levi groaned, slumping backwards with a sigh, glaring at them both in hopes of making them back off, but no such luck. Hanji was determined, and once they got going they didn’t stop. He reached out for the cup full of sugar packets on the table and fiddled with it.

“Next time we see him you better go talk to him or I will,” they said with a nod like it was decided and Levi flicked one of the packets at them. They caught it, of course.

“You can’t do that, shitty glasses,” he said with a narrow of his eyes, a blush spreading firmly across his cheeks. Hanji was about to say something, but was interrupted by the waitress, who had chosen that exact moment to come to their table and take their order. Levi felt grateful. He took an extra-long time choosing between the different teas just to buy time, trying to think of a way to steer the conversation to a different topic.

As soon as the waitress moved away, Hanji pounced right back on the topic at hand, giving him no room to try and execute any of his plans. They probably would not have worked either way though, so Levi just sighed.

“It’s not like you’re doing anything about it. We’ve been watching you pine after that dude for months now. Don’t you think it’s about time you do something?” they asked him as they leaned toward him and put a hand to his shoulder. Levi glanced at them and quickly flicked his eyes back to the table. He sighed.

“It’s just –“ he was interrupted by the waitress, who came back with their drinks and set them in front of them. Levi quickly grasped his teacup and stared into the liquid as he gathered his thoughts. Hanji and Mike waited patiently.

“I don’t know what to say, okay? I – freeze,” he mumbled out in the end, taking a sip of his green tea.

“Mike,” Hanji squealed, “Isn’t that just the cutest thing you’ve ever heard?”

“Hanji, stop teasing him,” Mike replied, but nodded at them with a smirk anyway, dodging the sugar packet flying toward him with a snort. Levi’s brow twitched in annoyance when he missed, but he didn’t have time to do anything else because Hanji sobered up and took control of the situation.

“We’ll help you out then,” they said with conviction, prompting a sigh from Levi. He rubbed his hands together and threw his head back.

“Listen, I don’t really want to embarrass myself in front of him okay? Just leave it,” he muttered, taking another sip of his drink.

“But Levi, really, we could help you get him and –“

“Hanji, please,” Levi said tiredly. Hanji surveyed him and after a long moment, surprisingly enough, let it go. They soon focused on their homework instead, reminding both Erwin and Levi that they also had to do a few things for their next class.

As Levi worked, he groaned at himself internally, trying to contain his frustration at his weird situation. He knew he was being ridiculous, _god he knew_ , but it was the first time this crush thing had happened to such an extent and he just didn’t know what to do. It was all too new for him, the fluttery heart, the flush of his cheeks and the nervous lump in his throat. He was well aware that as he was now, he would just fuck up real bad if he tried to approach Eren, so he had decided a while ago to just pine from afar. It was a safe, logical choice, free of any potential humiliation after all.

He sighed for what felt like the millionth time.

_‘Jesus Christ, I am so awkward._ ’


	2. Summer Job

Levi ended up not seeing Eren for the rest of the term, much to his misfortune. Or well, _fortune_ if he were to believe Hanji's threats of speaking with Eren themselves. And as much as Levi wanted to see Ocean-eyes – especially that stupidly pretty smile – he did _not_ fancy going through the humiliation of Hanji just pouncing on Eren and steering him toward Levi. He knew they meant well, but he wouldn’t be able to handle the very large awkward situation _that_ would have caused. Either way he looked at it made him feel disappointed though, so he soon distracted himself from those thoughts.

As it was the end of term it was also time to move out for the summer while the dorms were being checked over for any deficiencies. It had been surprising to hear that they needed to leave, but he had planned on going home anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. It was mainly Erwin who had been upset with the situation since he hadn’t wanted to go back home while his parents were arguing. He complained all up to the point when Mike had offered him a place to crash at his parent’s house. They were away for the summer Mike had said, so, needless to say, Erwin had accepted immediately.

“You’re ridiculous you know,” Levi snorted as he folded another one of his shirts, putting it in his suitcase.

“I’m going to be alone with my boyfriend for the whole summer, so I fail to see your point,” Erwin replied with a wink, twirling his dorm keys in his hand while putting a box of condoms in his suitcase.

“I’m just happy I don’t need to stay over at Farlan’s all the time anymore while you’re using our room as a love-nest.”

“You’re just jealous ‘cos you can’t do that with your lover-boy.”

“Fuck you, Erwin,” Levi said with a twitch of his brow, making Erwin laugh.

“That’s the plan,” A voice said from their doorway and they turned to see Mike walking in with a bag slung over his shoulder.

“You are _both_ ridiculous,” Levi retorted, nodding at Mike in greeting. The man smiled back at him and turned toward Erwin, pecking his cheek.

“You ready?”

“Yep,” Erwin replied, grabbing the handle of his suitcase, “Call when you get home, yeah Levi?”

“Will do – you as well.”

Erwin gave him a hug and walked out of the room with Mike soon following after he waved at him. Levi watched as they bumped their hips just before they moved out of sight and smiled. They were so obviously in love that it left Levi feeling deeply amused and happy whenever he saw them together. He occasionally wished he had that again, the silly goofing off and being happy with another person, but he shook himself of those thoughts because there was no use dwelling on them. It would come if it would. Although, Eren _did_ start flashing in his mind whenever he thought those thoughts nowadays, which made him feel very embarrassed.

A few hours later Levi, along with his luggage, boarded the train for home, already looking through ads for part time jobs. He felt relieved that the term was over, yet he didn’t have much time to dwell on his free time because his main concern was finding work for the summer. His family’s financial situation was not particularly sunshine and daisies at the moment after all, and he needed to be able to pay for next year’s tuition. His mother tried to support him, but he did not wish to burden her more than he already was.

Levi’s mother was everything to him. She was the one that raised him after his shitty father left, she was the one that encouraged him to reach for the stars, and she was the one that unconditionally loved him for who he was. He never felt like he was missing out on something for not having a dad like the other kids – his mother was the only parental figure he needed in his life. Coming out to her had been the most nerve-wrecking yet relaxing situation he had experienced. She had been through everything with him.

It was because of this that he really wished she would stop worrying so much about him and focus more on herself. She deserved a break – she deserved to enjoy her life more. So the least he could do was help out with their money situation whenever he could. Therefore, by the time his train arrived at his stop he had already saved quite a few numbers into his phone to call later, as well as many addresses. The jobs he had noted down into his phone were all in the fields he was sure he could handle and hoped he would be able to get.

His mother was waiting for him when he stepped off and he quickly greeted her with a large hug, burying his head into her shoulder to take her scent in. He had missed her a lot. Yet even after all the time they had spent apart she was still very familiar, if not happier. She smelled of home.

“How have you been?” he asked his mother once they parted, both slightly reluctant to.

“Just fine, sweetie. How was college, hmm?”

“Alright,” Levi replied, shrugging his shoulders, “The exams were tough, but we all pulled through in the end.”

“That’s great to hear sweetheart,” his mother said with a grin, nudging his arm with hers, “But you won’t get away with just that. Tell me everything – I’m curious!”

Levi raised his eyebrow at her but did as she asked him to. They made small talk while they waited for the bus to arrive, catching up on all the things they had experienced while they were separated. Levi happily observed as his mother explained how she met a lovely couple and befriended them a while back, a spark in her eyes as she spoke of her new friends.

She hadn’t been very well for the past year, ever since her brother – Levi’s uncle – was killed in a car-crash. She had loved him even with all the enormous flaws he had and the death had struck her deeply. She had isolated herself since and he had been terrified of leaving her alone like that when it was time to go to college, so the news that she was fine and making friends was like music to his ears.

“They have a son, you know?” she said with a mischievous glint in her eye as she glanced up at him. He rolled his eyes at her.

“Mom, really, stop trying to set me up,” he said with fake irritation in his voice. He knew she was mostly joking and he didn’t really feel bothered by it – as long as she was happy again.

“Alright, alright, just thought I would mention it,” she laughed and hooked her arm around his.

They continued chatting and soon he saw the bus in the distance. They grouped together with the other people, all of them waiting for it to arrive. Levi made sure he had everything and turned around, ready to step inside the vehicle, when what he thought was a familiar face flashed in the corner of his eye. He quickly whipped his head in the direction the person was in but they were already turning into an alley when he spotted them. He blinked once, then twice, very confused, his heart pounding wildly in his chest at just the thought that Eren might be there.

‘ _Nah, it couldn’t be_ ,’ he thought to himself in the end and shook his head, continuing to explain about his side projects to a very happy Kuchel as they got on the bus. She had known about his art slump and was ecstatic when he told her he got out of it.

“Honey, you have to show me your new sketches when we get home,” she said with a soft smile, patting his hand that was closed over his suitcase handle. Levi smiled back lightly and nodded. They stayed mostly silent for the rest of the bus ride, content.

_‘It’s good to be home.’_

 

* * *

 

Several days later, Levi had settled into his home again and had also made large progress on the job-seeking front. He had made a lot of phone-calls, and secured an interview for a summer job at a hotel nearby, which looked very promising in terms of management and cleanliness. The place was called Hotel Maria and it was definitely the best option out of the other, ah, less _hygienic_ work places he had been considering. He had applied for both the pool attendant position and the life guard position, not caring which one he got, as long as he got it. He was skilled at both, so either was fine – he just really hoped he would get that job.

When he arrived at the place the next day he practically had no time to look around because he was immediately directed to an office, where he spent half an hour talking to a very interesting manager, who looked like he was always happy. If he were to judge by the merry way he sipped at his flask, he assumed that the man had a reason to be so chuffed.

Pixis, as was the manager’s name, gave him the job. He walked out of the room as the newest pool attendant of the hotel – a pool boy, in simpler terms. His job was to check over the pool, the area, and the guests; to be on hand if they needed anything. It was a pretty easy job, if one knew how to check the chemical balances of the pool and so on. The only problem he faced with it was the socializing side, but he could handle it. Probably.

He started that day, so he was shown where the equipment and the pool were almost immediately after leaving Pixis’s office. The hotel worker that was showing him around explained everything essential to him; where the fire escapes were, where the fire extinguisher was, who to look for in case of an emergency – all the important details. The worker then proceeded to introduce him to the life-guard on duty, and then after some last instructions left him to his own devices. Levi fiddled with the hem of his shirt while he surveyed the area of the outdoor pool.

“So, you’re staying here for the summer, huh?” the life-guard – Reiner was his name – asked him when Levi didn’t move and stood there next to his chair uncertainly.

“Yes,” Levi replied, taking in the large pool and the amount of people there. A few silent, extremely long seconds passed. “Er, you too?”

“Yeah, I need this job. College ain’t gonna pay for itself, ya know?” Reiner said with a tilt of his lips, crossing his legs at the ankles.

“I know,” Levi nodded. More silence stretched between them. Levi glanced at Reiner and saw that the man was just as uncomfortable as he was by the awkward air between them. He frowned at himself, frustrated at his lack of social skills. He needed to step his game up if he wished to keep his job after all.

“So…”

“Are we the only ones working by the pool?” Levi asked, not knowing what else to day, but determined to try anyway.

“Nah, there are four other college kids here. My friends Bert and Annie have the morning shifts together, and Jaeger and Bodt have the evening shift usually. I’m here at noon and you’re probably going to work with me for most of the time – _although_ the schedules have been known to change randomly, so I’d check them regularly if I were you,” Reiner explained with a smile and a shrug, flicking his eyes to the pool again to make sure everything’s okay.

“Thank you for the information,” Levi said gratefully, scratching at the back of his neck, “I’m going to go check on some of the people now, I think,” he continued with a polite nod, earning an “Okay” and a wave from Reiner. He shuffled away and rubbed at his face, feeling tired all of a sudden. Socializing was going to be very difficult after all.

 

* * *

 

With that, Levi’s part time job at the hotel started. Fortunately everything got better after the first day. He got into the flow of things quickly and was soon able to find his way around everything without trouble. He checked his schedule regularly as Reiner warned him to, and made sure he was always on time for work. He tried his best to answer any questions from the hotel guests and checked the state of the pool chemical balance and cleanliness at the beginning and end of his shifts.

It wasn’t a trying job and it paid decently for the time he worked, which was around five or so hours from noon to five pm, giving him enough free time so he could spend it with his mother as well. He even managed to do a bit of summer school work, like applying for electives and taking care of all sorts of papers for the next semester. The job really worked out well for him.

Over time, he even got along better with Reiner – or well, Reiner finally realized that Levi was just a teensy bit awkward and worked around it. They got into a sort of working harmony within days, with only a few mishaps and funny situations happening during the adjusting time, and even fewer after. Reiner was very helpful when he had any questions or if he didn’t know where was what, making his life easier for the first few days. They didn’t speak all too much to each other outside of work though, and it suited them both just fine.

The pool attendant position usually covered the life-guard position as well, but since the pool site was big, the hotel thought it would be better to have the life-guard on full alert. This basically meant that Levi didn’t have too much to do and was free to leave a bit early every time – not like Reiner, who had to wait until his replacement to show up first before he could go home. So, while he had met Annie and Bertholdt in the first week of working there, as they usually waited for Reiner to show up before the both of them cleaned up, he hadn’t met the other two workers who worked the afternoon shifts. Levi wasn’t really bothered by it, though. He would meet them eventually.

 

* * *

 

Two weeks later, when Levi checked his work schedule, the unexpected change to his shift happened. For the next week, instead of the usual noon shift he had, he was written into the slots for the afternoon shift with Jaeger. Reiner had warned him about this, but Levi hadn’t really expected it to happen. He frowned in confusion, not particularly pleased with having to work till ten at night for the next week or even longer. He shifted his chemical equipment in his arms so he could take a picture of his new schedule with his phone, and then proceeded to walk to the pool. He found Reiner sitting in his usual life-saver chair and cleared his throat.

“Hey,” Reiner greeted lazily, taking a sip out of his water bottle while glancing up at Levi. “You’re here already.”

“Yeah, I decided to jog here today and left extra-early just in case,” Levi replied before sighing, “Listen, about the schedule – do you know why the sudden change?”

“You saw it then?” Reiner hummed, lolling his head lazily, “Marco, the dude that works as the pool attendant for the afternoon shift has issues with his schedule because of a personal matter. The boss agreed to the change – I think he said he was going to talk to you about it today.”

“Oh, alright, thanks,” Levi said with a sigh. Reiner nodded at him, focusing soon after on some kids splashing around and Levi saw him tense. “So, what is Jaeger like, anyway?”

“Oh, him? He’s great! You’ll probably get along really well with Ere- Oi, don’t jump into the pool on the _shallow side_!”

Reiner shot him an annoyed look and ran to the kids to berate them, leaving Levi standing beside the empty chair awkwardly, the conversation between them over. He watched as Reiner talked with the kids and sighed, deciding it was about time he did his job.

He got to work immediately, walking around the pool site to check on the guests discreetly, while thinking about the shift change. His bus stopped making rounds at 9 pm and he was going to be done at around 10. He could walk home, but it would be inconvenient at night, especially during summer time when people were prone to get wasted frequently. On top of that, Levi was now assigned a new co-worker, and just after he had started getting along with Reiner as well.

Realizing he could do nothing much about it, he focused on making sure there was enough equipment for non-swimmers around. He just hoped this switch wouldn’t be too annoying.

 

* * *

 

On Monday it turned out to be even more nerve-wrecking than he had expected, but for completely different reasons. It seemed like too much of a coincidence at first when he walked into the pool area that day and saw the familiar messy brown hair and tan skin. He was sure he was mistaken. Yet as he walked closer he slowly realised that even the posture was familiar. By the time he finally accepted just _who_ was there, he had gotten within speaking distance and it was too late to back out, especially when Eren turned around to check who was next to his chair. Levi swore his knees were going to give out when that gaze settled on him.

“Oh, hey!” Eren said with a flash or recognition and intrigue in his eyes, “You’re from my Uni, right? Funny meeting you here of all places.”

Levi stared at him, panic swelling up in his chest as he fought to say something that wasn’t just a string of awkward noises.

“Hi, er, yeah, um – you’re working here?” It was a stupid question, because Eren was obviously in the life-guard chair, wearing the life-guard shirt and fiddling with the red whistle that had the life-guard sign on it. Levi wanted to smack himself, but refrained and instead just clenched his hand next to his hip. His heart was pounding wildly.

“Yep, it’s close to my place and it’s one of the more interesting jobs so I thought, why not, ya know?” Eren replied, seemingly unfazed by Levi’s stuttering.

“I know what you mean,” Levi trailed off, glancing to his side where his equipment was.

“Oh, you work here as well? You must be Reiner’s usual shift-buddy then,” Eren said with a grin then, suddenly noticing what Levi had in his hands, “Also, wow, dude, my bad, I didn’t even introduce myself or anything.” He stood up and pushed his hair back from his face, reaching out with his other hand toward Levi. “I’m Eren, nice to meet you.”

Levi stared at him and the way his hair stood up in a cute, messy way, the way his eyes sparkled in the sunlight and how the shirt he wore fit him snuggly, and swallowed heavily.

“Levi.”

**Author's Note:**

> Well then, that's chapter one :D I hope you enjoyed it :3 this is the start of my Ereri Week 2015 fills. They are all going to be made into one story. Just a quick thing tho: I will not be updating them daily because I've been (and still am) busy with University and didn't really have time to do them all yet. I will try my hardest to be as quick as possible though! :D


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